Twisters Was Shot During Oklahoma’s Actual Tornado Season

Universal’s Twisters is set to hit theaters on July 19, 2024, and the long-awaited sequel to the 1996 classic has a lot of people buzzing. Starring Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones, the film is a follow-up to the original disaster flick which starred the late Bill Paxton, and took in nearly $500 million dollars at the box office during its initial run. Like its predecessor, Twisters obviously utilizes a lot of CGI elements to bring the carnage, but there’s one practical effect that came into play during filming in Oklahoma: Tornado season.

Speaking with Empire ahead of Twisters’ premiere next month, director Lee Isaac Chung and star Glen Powell touched on how the sequel came together, and what it was like filming during tornado season in Oklahoma. Chung says the entire plan was his idea, and after it was all said and done, he couldn’t believe they managed to pull it off. Check out his comments below.

“It was tough. The unpredictability of the weather caused a lot of issues and delays. It was my choice to do this in tornado season, but honestly, I still can’t believe we
actually
did it.”

While the aforementioned CGI elements do come into play (after all, you can’t have Hollywood darling Glen Powell sucked up by a real tornado), Chung says he went as practical as he could for Twisters when it came to its many effects. He said that in addition to having jet engines on hand to help simulate harsh winds, the cast was pelted with anything the crew could get their hands on.

“This is an elemental story, so
I wanted us to go as practical as possible
. We really tore things up. We had
jet engines blowing
. We had fans so massive you’d lose your hearing without earplugs. We
were pelting our cast with
everything

– dirt, wind, ice.”

Glen Powell Says Audiences Haven’t Seen Anything Like Twisters Before

While Glen Powell might seem like an overnight sensation given his recent success with hits like Top Gun: Maverick and Anyone but You, the 35-year-old actor has been at it since 2003, getting his start at age 13 with a part in Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over. In addition to Twisters, the megastar has found success with the romantic black comedy, Hit Man (which premieres on Netflix June 7, 2024), and has also been tapped to lead the Edgar Wright adaptation of the Stephen King story, The Running Man.

For Powell, he says the aim of Twisters was to honor the original film while at the same time delivering something fresh for fans who have been waiting for the sequel for nearly 30 years. He pointed to Top Gun: Maverick as the blueprint for how Twisters came together, saying that director Lee Isaac Chung brought that same energy into the project.

“I remember when we were breaking
Top Gun: Maverick
, we went back to the original to figure out: ‘What do audiences want from a
Top Gun
movie? What are the set-pieces and characters that feel wholly
Top Gun
?’ It was the same on
Twisters
. Our film honors the first one, but stands on its own merits.”

Related

Best Natural Disaster Movies, Ranked

Whether it’s a single boat in a storm or a comet headed toward earth, natural disaster movies are sure to get your adrenaline pumping.

In addition to filming during actual tornado season in Oklahoma, the use of CGI, and the cast getting bombarded with bits and bobs of dirt and ice, Twisters utilized drones to get as close as possible to real tornadoes that are featured in the movie. Powell enthuses that audiences are going to be in for a wild ride when they finally see the finished product.